This Is A Person

Curator's Statement: 

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I would like to thank all the photographers who submitted their work to This Is A Person. It was a genuinely enjoyable experience to spend time with these portraits and to witness so many different ways of approaching the human presence through photography. Choosing only a limited number of works was not easy, and many memorable photographs stayed in my mind long after viewing them. Those not selected should not see this as a reflection of the value of their work, but rather as part of the inevitable limitations of the selection process. My congratulations to the selected photographers. 

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What I found particularly compelling throughout the submissions was the ability of certain portraits to reveal something beyond appearance — moments where the inner world of the subject quietly emerged through a gaze, a gesture, a posture, or even a subtle tension within the frame. In some works, the environment itself became an essential extension of the portrait, helping to deepen our understanding of the person being photographed. Across different styles and approaches, many of the images reminded me that a portrait is not only about showing a face, but about allowing us, even briefly, to encounter another human being with depth, complexity, and presence. 

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It was also fascinating to see how different photographers approached visual elements such as color, light, texture, and surrounding details in completely different ways. In some portraits, color itself became part of the psychological language of the image, adding emotional atmosphere and helping us enter the subject's world more deeply. In other works, the absence of color created a different kind of intimacy and concentration, stripping the image down to expression, gesture, and presence alone. Seeing how both inclusion and reduction could serve the emotional power of a portrait was one of the aspects of the submissions that I appreciated the most. 

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What stayed with me most after viewing the submissions was the sense that portrait photography still has the power to slow us down and invite a more attentive way of looking at one another. In a time where images are constantly consumed and forgotten, it was meaningful to encounter photographs that carried silence, vulnerability, ambiguity, and emotional honesty. Many of these portraits felt less like descriptions of people and more like brief encounters with lives, emotions, and inner realities that cannot be fully explained in words. 

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Hossein Fardinfard 
May 21, 2026